Point Robinson Park Trail

Location: Maury Island (attached to Vashon Island).

Length: About a mile.

Level of difficulty: Flat-to-moderate grassy and gravel paths (muddy after rains).

Setting: This charming 12-acre park on the eastern tip of Maury Island is home to a Coast Guard lighthouse that dates back to 1915. From the upper parking lot, cross the grassy lawn to a short loop walk through a forest of alders and big-leaf maples. Bring your lunch - the hilltop trail is flecked with picnic alcoves that overlook Puget Sound. Halfway down the lawn, look for a small sign that marks the path to stairs that descend to the shoreline (which is very narrow at high tide). A paved road leads down a hillside swathed in berry bushes to a lower parking lot. Follow paths through the field to reach the lighthouse and the driftwood-strewn, sandy beach. The views from this peaceful point include houses clustered on the bluffs on the east side of the Sound, planes lifting off from Sea-Tac and ships bound for Tacoma.

Highlights: This area is known as a good winter bird-watching site. Take binoculars, and a guidebook or a birder and look for double-crested cormorants, Eurasian widgeons and parasitic jaegers, as well as loons, grebes, and scoters. For more park information, call 206-463-9602. For maps of the island, stop by any island real-estate office. During the week, stop by the parks office off Vashon Highway (next to the Vashon library) for a map of the island's parks.

Facilities: Portable toilet.

Restrictions: Leash and scoop laws in effect for pets.

Directions: From West Seattle's Fauntleroy dock, take the ferry to Vashon Island. Drive off the ferry and head south on Vashon Highway Southwest for several miles. Turn left on Southwest 204th Street/Southwest Ellisport Road, and when you reach the water, turn right on Dockton Road Southwest. Where the road veers sharply to the right, continue straight on Southwest Point Robinson Road, and at the "T," turn right into the park.

Cathy McDonald is coauthor with Stephen Whitney of "Nature Walks In and Around Seattle," with photographs by James Hendrickson (The Mountaineers, second edition, 1997).